1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an angular rate sensor for detecting angular rate and a method of manufacturing the sensor.
This application is based on the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-156228 filed on May 27, 2005, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
2. Background Art
The technology of angular rate sensors for detecting angular velocity by vibrating a vibrating portion and utilizing the Coriolis force based on the angular rate has been developed (Patent Document 1).
Patent Document 1: TOKUKAI No. 2002-350138, KOHO
In the aforementioned technology, a sealing means of the vibrating portion is not disclosed. It is preferred to reduce the influence of air resistance by sealing the vibrating portion, because the vibration portion is subjected to air resistance.
However, ensuring the credibility of the sealing and attempting miniaturization of the angular rate sensor is always associated with some difficulty. For example, when attempting to seal the angular rate sensor using a glass substrate, the thickness tends to become large in order to strengthen the sensor, and therefore it is difficult to miniaturize the angular rate sensor along the thickness direction.